screech

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a loud, harsh, high-pitched cry or noise

   The sudden screech of brakes made everyone turn.

2. 2
   verb

   to make a loud, harsh, high-pitched cry or noise

   The owl began to screech from somewhere beyond the barn.

An expressive alteration of earlier scritch, from Middle English skriken or shrichen and related Germanic words meaning to utter a piercing cry. The word is ultimately imitative of the sound it names.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary